How General Mills doubles down on Hispanic Online Video: 6 things to know

Hispanic Online Video Consumption is huge and getting even larger. The executives behind General Mills Hispanic Que Rica Vida (QRV) digital property know it. "Consumers today are spending 40% of their digital time on YouTube. As a digital platform that prides itself on consumer-intimacy, it was a clear next step for QRV to invest more heavily on YouTube", Natalia Ortega, Media Site Planner of General Mills tells Portada. A look into General Mills QRV's online video strategy. 6 Key Features.

1. Focus on Online Video with first episodic-style production

General Mills recently introduced "Celebra lo Rico", a 10-episode web series for Qué Rica Vida, its bilingual digital platform directed to U.S. Latinas. This is Qué Rica Vida’s first episodic-style video production. The series began airing on Qué Rica Vida's YouTube Channel last week , and will continue with new episodes every other Thursday through Mother's Day. The series features three food bloggers, Melissa Bailey, Morena Cuadra, and Fernanda Beccaglia, who regularly contribute articles and recipes to Qué Rica Vida.(Interestingly, Que Rica Vida is going all-in on digital and recently discontinued the Que Rica Vida off-line magazine it was publishing in partnership with ImpreMedia with a circ. of 1 million, it was the magazine with the highest circulation targeting Latinas in the U.S.).

2. Treating YouTube as a Destination

The videos are hosted on YouTube, which is treated as a destination and not as a content distribution channel. As General Mills' Natalia Ortega says, "Consumers today are spending 40% of their digital time on YouTube. As a digital platform that prides itself on consumer-intimacy, it was a clear next step for QRV to invest more heavily in YouTube. Over the last year, we have begun to treat YouTube as a destination, rather than as a content distribution channel." As of 1/13/2015 the Qué Rica Vida YouTube channel had over 1.7 million views.

The videos are hosted on YouTube, which is treated as a destination and not as a content distribution channel.

3. Content: Branded Food Entertainment vs How-To

The Celebra lo Rico series aims to differentiate Qué Rica Vida from the competitive landscape of Latina food platforms, and, according to Ortega, “gage whether our audience was craving branded food entertainment on YouTube. Before this, our channel mostly featured “how-to” content and kitchen tips. This content is searchable, but not ownable; we are working to understand what the right balance is for our consumer, and what video content needs our brand can, and should, be satisfying.”

4. Promotion: Paid, Earned and Owned

The web series is supported with extensions across Qué Rica Vida's online platforms, including QueRicaVida.com, the Qué Rica Vida Facebook page and weekly e-mail newsletters. Ortega adds that "We are exploring various paid content distribution partners, as well as advertising on GeneralMill’s other owned platforms (including BettyCrocker.com, Pillsbury.com and Tablespoon.com) todrivetraffic to the Qué Rica Vida YouTube channel. Though YouTube is the priority destination for video, we distribute our content across a number of channels, including Facebook, Instagram and our e-mail newsletters. In addition, we are testing a number of video-optimized paid distribution tools including Virool, Outbrain and Taboola."

5. Manage Audience Expectations and uphold Authenticity

Ortega tells Portada that Que Rica Vida has adopted the "industry’s best practices, regularly uploading new content to set expectations for our subscribers and working with influencers as content creators to uphold authenticity. We are spending more time monitoring audience engagement to inform and optimize our video content strategy moving forward."

The language binary will become less relevant as we aim to speak in culture, as opposed to in language.

6. English vs. Spanish Engagement

Ortega notes that QRV's Spanish-language audience "is more highly engaged, but in the long-term, this language binary will become less relevant as we aim to speak in culture, as opposed to in language."

Editorial Staff

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